Some simple truths about gaining muscle that not everyone grasps

1. If you’re beginning, an intermediate or advanced routine that your twitter thirst trap is currently following will not be optimal for your needs. Don’t ask what they’re doing now, ask what they did when they were starting out.

2. There are some basic principles of eating to grow, but everyone’s physiology, metabolic adaptation, insulin sensitivity, etc etc etc will vary. Diet will always be a process of individual tinkering, not doing the same thing as someone else. There is no silver bullet.

3. Steroids work but not as dramatically as most people think. They magnify what you’re already doing in the gym and in the kitchen, if you don’t have those fundamentals nailed down you will be disappointed.

4. There are hidden roadblocks to growth. Sleep is incredibly important; do you get enough and is it actually good sleep? Cortisol eats muscle tissue, are you stressed out all the time? Getting swole requires you to insist on a high quality of life for yourself.

5. Most people don’t know how to train with intensity. It doesn’t mean throwing the weights. Smooth, controlled, purposeful reps, hard contractions, plenty of time under tension. When it starts to hurt, that’s when the work begins. Go even slower and torture yourself.

6. Build strong mental connections with all your muscles, learn the mechanics of your joints. If you don’t feel an exercise in the muscle you’re supposed to feel it in, your form is wrong. Experiment with light high volume sets til you feel the burn where you’re meant to feel it.